Zhaos, I think there is discussion about that earlier in this thread. The consensus seemed to be that the track that is now the Hempstead Branch westbound will become the new 3rd Main-line track and the Hempstead Branch will be constricted to the one remaining south track thru Floral Park.

Hmm, actually, according to the EIS, http://www.amodernli.com/wp-content/upl ... _FINAL.pdf, Figure 1-10, between page 1-19 and 1-20, the Hempstead branch is drawn retaining its two-track configuration. The third track in that section will be built south of the current main line. I'm probably rehashing discussion earlier on here however.

zhaos wrote:Hmm, actually, according to the EIS, http://www.amodernli.com/wp-content/upl ... _FINAL.pdf, Figure 1-10, between page 1-19 and 1-20, the Hempstead branch is drawn retaining its two-track configuration. The third track in that section will be built south of the current main line. I'm probably rehashing discussion earlier on here however.

The future operations of the Hempstead Branch and the Oyster Bay Branch are items the FEIS doesn't go into depth on. In the case of the Hempstead Branch, the third mainline track (eastbound) will tie into the westbound Hempstead track just east of Floral Park Station presenting a potential conflict between Queens Interlocking and Floral Park Station. The FEIS does state that:

"A previously planned modification to the Queens Interlocking would also accommodate the connection between the new third track and Hempstead Branch."and"A new universal crossover would be installed on the Hempstead Branch just east of Tunnel Street, to improve operations and avoid conflicts with the new third track connection at Floral Park Station. This universal crossover would avoid the need for single-track operations along the Hempstead Branch. These modifications would allow the LIRR to optimize operations and streamline movements between branches."

This gives insight into what the LIRR is thinking in terms of operations, but the FEIS seems to intentionally skip over that important little detail. It looks like they will need to either single track or reverse run the Hempstead Branch between Queens Interlocking and the new universal crossover east of Floral Park Station. Either of these will be interesting for Floral Park and Bellerose Stations as it would effectively turn them into one track stations (Floral Park has 4 platforms) or it would reverse the direction of the current configuration at those stations. It will be interesting to see what the LIRR ends up doing here.

According to the map schematics on the project, the tracks will be shifted over by a few feet like they did at Mineola when Herricks Road was eliminated. The only grade crossings that won't be eliminated will be Willis Avenue on the Oyster Bay Branch. Pretty interesting with a grade crossing on top of a tunnel.

The third track at Willis avenue is a bigger issue than the one for Oyster Bay and will have a much greater impact when the crossing is closed.

The crossiing for the Oyster Bay line in Mineola turns the road into a much less used local road with much less traffic and there are a lot more crossings that are more significant. In theory more crossings should be closed but the impact on closing Willis avenue crossing is large.

If there are any unanticipated issues with the Oyster Bay crossing in the future, they can always make modifications at a later time.

This is one more reason why I think pushing to have the central ROW used instead of the 3rd track would have been far better. Instead of a forced awkward operation that will ultimately diminish the benefits of the 3rd track (in terms of capacity, be it for the main or the Hempstead), they could have used the space between Bellrose and Queens Village to put a flying crossover where Hempstead WB track comes up and over the main to the north side of the ROW. A gentle shift of the main south one trackway under the flyover and the current WB Hempstead is now Main EB and the current Main EB is now the main WB. Current main WB becomes Hempstead WB. No interference between trains.

In the Hicksville area, the roadbed and retaining wall is now in place for the third track to be extended west from the north-side (#1) station-track to the freight yard area where it will connect to the existing "North Side" track.

The Hicksville part was necessary so the third track project can go on but it didn’t build out any third rail track yet. The real work will get started perhaps in 2018 and beyond. Lots of pieces are in place in parts but the bulk of the work hasn’t yet begun. In 2018 I am sure we will see at least some progress being made.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has approved a $1.9 billion contract for the design and construction of a third track on the Long Island Rail Road’s Main Line from Floral Park to Hicksville.

The vote Wednesday, after debate over the project’s cost and other fiscal concerns, marked the culmination of decades of efforts by the railroad to boost capacity through the bottlenecked segment of its Main Line, through which about half of all LIRR customers travel.

MTA board member Mitchell Pally of Stony Brook, who has spearheaded the push on the board for a third track, thanked board members, elected officials and other project supporters “for understanding, albeit a little late, but finally understanding the importance of this project to us.”

The 9.8-mile new track will be built entirely on the LIRR’s existing property and will come with other proposed benefits, including the elimination of seven grade crossings, several station renovations and six new parking garages. Construction is expected to begin next year and take up to four years.

The contract was awarded to a joint venture known as 3rd Track Constructors, which includes Dragados USA Inc., John P. Picone Inc., Halmar International LLC and CCA Civil Inc.

Project benefits everyone. They can fix the subways and build the third track at the same time. Lhota is absolutely correct. As having used the mainline myself and seeing the growth in the area, the third track needed to be done, in fact it should have been done earlier at a cheaper cost. But the MTA is the MTA and the project will take a few years before completion of a project which made sense to do years earlier.

This project has so many benefits too numerous to name including needed work across the mainline.

The railroad will run a lot better with this third track. It will open up so many doors by creating jobs and of course, enabling more flexibility with running the trains. It will be great to have a reverse peak service. There are so many offices along the Main Line, especially in Mineola that will help with reverse commuting options. If you live in Forest Hills and work in Mineola, you will have more LIRR options but you still might have to change at Jamaica.